Muhammad III of Granada
| Muhammad III | |
|---|---|
| Sultan of Granada | |
| Reign | April 1302 – 14 March 1309 |
| Predecessor | Muhammed II al-Faqih |
| Successor | Nasr, Sultan of Granada |
| House | Nasrid dynasty |
| Father | Muhammed II al-Faqih |
| Religion | Islam |
Muhammed III (1257- after 1309) was a son of Muhammed II al-Faqih and the third Nasrid ruler of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus on the Iberian Peninsula. On April 8, 1302 he ascended the Granadan Sultan's throne after the death of his father Muhammed II al-Faqih. During the first few weeks of his reign, Muhammed III negotiated peace treaties with the kingdoms of Castile and Aragon.
In the 1230s, Muhammad III's grandfather, Muhammad I, set up the Emirate of Granada, which eventually became the last independent Muslim state in the Iberian peninsula. Through a combination of diplomatic and military maneuvers, the kingdom succeeded in maintaining its independence, despite being surrounded by larger neighbors, Castile and the Marinid state (based in Morocco). Under the reigns of Muhammad I and his successor Muhammad II, Granada intermittently entered into alliance or went to war with either of these powers, or encouraged them to fight one another, in order to avoid being dominated by either.
Just before his death, Muhammad II—Muhammad III's father—oversaw a successful campaign against Castile, taking advantage of Castile's concurrent war against Aragon as well as the minority of the Castilian king Ferdinand IV. In September 1301 Muhammad secured a peace agreement in which, among others, Castile agreed to return Tarifa—an important port on the Straits of Gibraltar—to Granada. This agreement was ratified in January 1302, but was never put into effect due to Muhammad II's death shortly after.
Muhammad II died in April 1302 after 29 years of rule. There were allegations, cited by Ibn al-Khatib, that Muhammad III, perhaps impatient to assume power, killed his father by poison, although this rumor was never confirmed. An anecdote says that during his accession, when a poet recited: For whom are the banners today unfurled? For whom do the troops' neath their standards march, he responded: "For this fool you can see before you all".
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